Am. Ave. Property Mgt v. Tirk

[Cite as Am. Ave. Property Mgt v. Tirk, 2026-Ohio-4132.]
STATE OF OHIO ) IN THE COURT OF APPEALS
)ss: NINTH JUDICIAL DISTRICT
COUNTY OF SUMMIT )
AMERICAN AVENUE PROPERTY
MGMT.
Appellee
v.
MIRANDA TIRK
Appellant
C.A. No. 31747
APPEAL FROM JUDGMENT
ENTERED IN THE
AKRON MUNICIPAL COURT
COUNTY OF SUMMIT, OHIO
CASE No. 25CVG8729
DECISION AND JOURNAL ENTRY
Dated: October 21, 2026
STEVENSON, Judge.
{¶1} Defendant-Appellant Miranda Tirk appeals from the judgment of the Akron
Municipal Court granting Plaintiff-Appellee American Avenue Property Management (“American
Avenue”) a writ of restitution regarding the premises located at 1027 Delia Avenue, Akron, Ohio,
44320 (the “Premises”).
I.
{¶2} In May 2025 Ms. Tirk leased the Premises from American Avenue. After she failed
to pay rent for the month of September 2025, she was served with a three-day notice to leave the
Premises. On October 8, 2025, American Avenue filed a forcible entry and detainer action against
Ms. Tirk in the Akron Municipal Court to recover possession of the Premises. The matter came
before a magistrate on November 6, 2025. The magistrate recommended that a writ of restitution
be granted to American Avenue. The trial court adopted the magistrate’s decision the same day.

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According to the case docket, the eviction date was November 17, 2025. Ms. Tirk timely appealed
and asserts one assignment of error for our review.
II.
ASSIGNMENT OF ERROR I
[MS. TIRK] HAS SUBMITTED A MONEY FOR KEYS EVIDENCE FROM
AMERICAN AVENUE DATED PRIOR TO THE COURT PROCEEDING
SHOWING A COURT HEARING SHOULD NOT HAVE TAKEN PLACE
AT ALL.
{¶3} Ms. Tirk states in her appellate brief that she met with Mr. Eric Sheldon, a
representative of American Avenue, on October 20, 2025, and signed a “Money for Keys-Balance
Forgiveness Agreement” (“Agreement”) which provided that if Ms. Tirk vacated the Premises and
turned in the keys by a date certain, the outstanding balance would be forgiven and there would be
no eviction action. She asserts that she fully complied with the Agreement. She further states that
she did not appear for the court proceedings because Mr. Sheldon informed her that “court would
no longer occur as the [A]greement would nullify it.” She argues that “[t]he parties have a signed
[A]greement making any judgment on this case void[].” She asks this Court to reverse the court’s
decision and dismiss the case.
{¶4} First, Ms. Tirk did not object to the magistrate’s decision granting the writ of
restitution. Thus, she has forfeited any alleged error on appeal except for a claim of plain error.
Civ.R. 53(D)(3)(b)(iv) provides:
Except for a claim of plain error, a party shall not assign as error on appeal the
court's adoption of any factual finding or legal conclusion, whether or not
specifically designated as a finding of fact or conclusion of law under Civ.R.
53(D)(3)(a)(ii), unless the party has objected to that finding or conclusion as
required by Civ.R. 53(D)(3)(b).
{¶5} “‘Where a party fails to raise an issue in its objections to a magistrate’s decision,
that issue is forfeited on appeal.’” Niederst v. Niederst, 2018-Ohio-5320, ¶ 34 (9th Dist.), quoting

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Bass-Fineberg Leasing, Inc. v. Modern Auto Sales, Inc., 2015-Ohio-46, ¶ 24 (9th Dist.). This
principle was recently reaffirmed by the Ohio Supreme Court in State ex rel. Wright v. Franklin
Cty. Mun. Court, Slip Opinion No. 2026-Ohio-3309, ¶ 8 (failure to object to the magistrate’s
decision forfeited all but plain error review). Ms. Tirk does not argue plain error, and we will not
craft a plain error argument for her. State v. Nielsen, 2024-Ohio-617, ¶ 44 (9th Dist.) (“It is not the
role of this court to craft a plain error argument for an appellant who fails to do so.”).
{¶6} Secondly, even if Ms. Tirk’s had objected to the magistrate’s decision, we must
nonetheless overrule her assignment of error because Ms. Tirk has not supplied this Court with a
transcript of the November 6, 2025, hearing demonstrating that the court erred in the manner she
alleges. It is “a bedrock principle of appellate practice in Ohio . . . that an appeals court is limited
to the record of the proceedings at trial,” Morgan v. Eads, 2004-Ohio-6110, ¶ 13. With respect to
transcripts, the Supreme Court of Ohio has concluded that “[w]hen portions of the transcript
necessary for resolution of assigned errors are omitted from the record, the reviewing court has
nothing to pass upon and thus, as to those assigned errors, the court has no choice but to presume
the validity of the lower court's proceedings, and affirm.” Knapp v. Edwards Labs., 61 Ohio St.2d
197, 199 (1980).
{¶7} The duty to provide a transcript for appellate review falls upon the appellant.
App.R. 9(B)(4) (“If the appellant intends to present an assignment of error on appeal that a finding
or conclusion is unsupported by the evidence or is contrary to the weight of the evidence, the
appellant shall include in the record a transcript of proceedings that includes all evidence relevant
to the findings or conclusion.”) (Emphasis added.); App.R. 9(B)(3) (“The appellant shall order the
transcript in writing and shall file a copy of the transcript order with the clerk of the trial court.”)
(Emphasis added.).

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{¶8} As Ms. Tirk has not provided a transcript of the November 6, 2025, hearing for our
review, we must therefore presume that competent, credible evidence was presented at the hearing
to support the determination that a writ of restitution should be granted to American Avenue.
Knapp at 199.
III.
{¶9} Ms. Tirk’s assignment of error is overruled. The judgment of the Akron Municipal
Court is affirmed.
Judgment affirmed.
There were reasonable grounds for this appeal.
We order that a special mandate issue out of this Court, directing the Akron Municipal
Court, County of Summit, State of Ohio, to carry this judgment into execution. A certified copy
of this journal entry shall constitute the mandate, pursuant to App.R. 27.
Immediately upon the filing hereof, this document shall constitute the journal entry of
judgment, and it shall be file stamped by the Clerk of the Court of Appeals at which time the period
for review shall begin to run. App.R. 22(C). The Clerk of the Court of Appeals is instructed to
mail a notice of entry of this judgment to the parties and to make a notation of the mailing in the
docket, pursuant to App.R. 30.
Costs taxed to Appellant.
SCOT STEVENSON
FOR THE COURT

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FLAGG LANZINGER, P. J.
MANNING, J.
CONCUR.
APPEARANCES:
MIRANTA TIRK, pro se, Appellant.
STEVEN W. MASTRANTONIO, Attorney at Law, for Appellee.